Documents Feb 11, 2026

Council Minutes – February 11th, 2026

Borough of Duncansville Meeting Summary

Date: February 11, 2026 Time: 7:00 p. m. – 8:16 p. m. Location: Municipal Complex

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Eric Fritz. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Council Members Present:

Visitors: Tim Kelley, Rodney Knel, William Lloyd, Deb Faith, and Tina St. Clair were in attendance.

January 12th Meeting: Approved on motion by Nicole Estep, seconded by Bill Wiedemer.
DMA Minutes (Jan 2, 2025): Approved on motion by Dave Shaw, seconded by Nicole Estep.

Community Center Rental: Deb Faith requested the use of the Community Center for a fundraising "Go Red Event" on March 8th. She asked for the rental fee to be waived.
- Decision: Council approved the use of the Community Center on March 8th at no cost. (Moved by Nicole Estep, seconded by Jeff Lynn).

Police Report: Mayor Fritz reported that the new speed monitoring device is working well. Data collected on 4th Avenue (between 12th and 13th streets) showed a median speed of 20.4 mph, with 1,536 cars recorded in one week. This data will help schedule police coverage strategically.
- Decision: The Police Report was approved. (Moved by Nicole Estep, seconded by Dave Shaw).
Bird Town Status: Mayor Fritz announced that Duncansville has been officially approved as a Bird Town in Pennsylvania, the first in Blair County.
Finance: The borough's financial condition is good. Mrs. Long noted that DMA owes the borough $125,000 for extra expenditures in 2025. DMA was asked to hold payment until the audit is complete. Accounting procedures were changed in January to direct bill DMA, eliminating "due to/due from" functions.
Admin Report Payment: Mrs. Long reported receiving an invoice from the Blair County Planning Commission for $1,981.93. The auditor is pleased with the 2025 audit preparation, which should be completed mid-February.
- Decision: Council approved the payment of $1,981. 93 to Blair Planning. (Moved by Nicole Estep, seconded by Jeff Lynn).

Building & Grounds (Telephones): The borough's phones use Verizon Voice over IP. Current phones are obsolete and will stop working after March 2026. Mr. Estep is investigating abandoning Verizon for a service that provides hardware and support.
- Decision: Council authorized moving forward with a new phone solution considering time restrictions. (Moved by Jeff Lynn, seconded by Nicole Estep).
Parks & Recreation (Memorial Park): A grant window is opening with DCED. Blair Planning believes a master plan is needed to be competitive. The grant requires a 15% match, which can be covered by the park's value used as collateral. An assessment costing $500–$1,000 is needed for submission. Eric is meeting with Adam from Keller Engineers to discuss the plan and get a proposal.
- Proposed Improvements: Pickleball courts, walkways, lighting, sound booth, new bridges, bathrooms, interconnection to the community center, pedestrian bridge upgrades, and Main Street downtown project ideas.
- Goal: The master plan should cover community wants for the next 10 years. Matt Schultz, who did the original appraisal, can easily do it again.

Pension Plans: New pension plans for Uniform and non-Uniform employees were discussed. Ordinances were properly advertised and discussed at the last meeting.
- Non-Uniform Pension Ordinance 1-26-1: Approved.
  - Vote: Annette Lewis (Yes), Jeff Lynn (Yes), Bill Wiedemer (Yes), Nicole Estep (Yes), Dave Shaw (Yes).
- Uniform Pension Ordinance 1-26-3: Approved.
  - Vote: Annette Lewis (Yes), Jeff Lynn (Yes), Bill Wiedemer (Yes), Dave Shaw (Yes). Nicole Estep abstained.

The Public Works Director must submit a pre-plan of the coming week's work and a recap of the previous week every Monday.
Department heads were encouraged to "come up to speed and be department heads. "
Public Works staff now report to the building at 7:15 AM to clean before office staff arrive.

New Solicitor: Manager Rodney Estep introduced Pat Fanelli as the new borough solicitor.
Rental Registration: The solicitor is working on a mechanism for non-compliant rental registrations. There are 17 non-compliant properties after initial letters were sent.
- Next Steps: Send 17 registered letters at an administrative cost of $8 each.
- Penalties: The goal is compliance. If they do not comply, the fine for the first offense is $200.

Decision: The water & sewer report for January was approved. (Moved by Bill Wiedemer, seconded by Nicole Estep).

December Bills: Council approved and authorized payment of the December bills. (Moved by Dave Shaw, seconded by Jeff Lynn).

Meeting Adjourned: 8:16 p. m.